December 9th, 2017
The December Guild meeting was part of our Annual Holiday party. It was held at the Black Forrest Inn in Stanhope, N.J. Even though it had been snowing all day the turnout was good with 25 members attending. The food was really tasty and everyone got to mingle and chat. We had a drawing for some really cool door prizes and a super auction that, thanks to the generosity of the attending members netted $875. When all was said and done the dinner only cost the Guild $434. Thanks again to everyone who helped out and for your generous donations to the auction.
November 15th, 2017
The November Guild meeting was held at the workshop of Guild President Matt Weiss. There was a significant turnout of members for this meeting. We had one new potential member attend. During the business portion of the meeting we discussed several topics: Joe Corigliano stated that we are still looking for annual dues from almost half of the current members. Your membership dues must be paid up prior to the Holiday party if you plan to attend. Speaking of the party, members in attendance were asked to indicate if they plan to attend the party and if so, please also indicate if they are bringing any guests and how many. We need to provide a total headcount to the restaurant. The party will be held at the Black Forrest Inn, Stanhope, NJ on December 9th, starting at 6PM. David Pollak mentioned that if you’re interested, please consider joining the EAIA (Early American Industries Association). Next year’s EAIA Annual meeting will be held nearby in Bethlehem, PA from May 23rd to the 26th, 2018.
The presentation topic of our meeting was on sanding products. Brian Fullam, manufacturing rep for Norton Abrasives, gave a great presentation on the sanding products that are now being made by Norton in support of woodworking. Brian can be reached at brian.p.fullam@saint-gobain.com and their website is www.nortonabrasives.com. Also in attendance was Rich Girardin, a sales representative for retailer Richeliu Hardware. Rich can be contacted at rgirardin@richelieu.com.
October 18th, 2017
The October Guild meeting was held at Wood Masters, LLC, the work shop of Dave Pollak and Wally Kunkel. The meeting was well attended. During the meeting, we discussed where to hold our annual holiday party. Some members have suggested we look for a new venue for the party. Suggestions are welcome, but any recommended venue must have some kind of banquet room/backroom where we can hold our meeting and auction. Note that most members’ annual membership fees are now due. Please contact our Treasurer, Joe Corigliano, regarding the payment of your dues.
Dave Pollak provided a very informative demo of his favorite type of veneer glue called “Heat Lock”. It is a heat activated veneer glue that doesn’t require any sort of clamping. It just gets ironed on into place. Dave demonstrated several different veneering applications and how to apply veneer using this type of glue.
September 20th, 2017
The September Guild Meeting was held at the workshop of Thomas Charles Cabinetry
July 19th, 2017
The July meeting was a BBQ that was held at the home of member Joe Fernandez. Joe graciously hosted the event and gave tours of his home and basement workshop. Joe’s home is a testament to his fine cabinetry skills. Many members brought contributions to the meal. Bart made his famous smoked baby back ribs again- they appeared to be a big hit (I know, a bit self promoting). Near the end of the event, we held a fund raising auction in Joe’s garage. Matt played auctioneer. Members contributed items for sale. Nearly everything was sold. Giacomo kept the tally of what was sold, to whom, and for how much. A good time was had by all. Note that the Guild takes off the month of August, so the next Guild meeting will be on the 3rd Wednesday of September.
June 21st, 2017
The June meeting was held at the home/shop of Bart Goldberg. There was a decent turnout of about 16-17 Guild members. Once again, Bart demonstrated some of his smoked BBQ cooking ability and served Mesquite Smoked Rib Eye to the attendees. A nice change from the typical pizza.
The business part of the meeting focused on the annual July Picnic. However, due to the lateness with planning the event, it was agreed to forgo the picnic this year. Instead, we will hold a BBQ on Wednesday July 19th, at Joe Fernandez’s home. In lieu of a woodworking demonstration, we will conduct the fund raising auction that would have been held if we had a picnic.
The demo part of the meeting was provided by host Bart Goldberg and was the continuation of the veneering presentation started at the May meeting by Bill Fagnant. Bart demonstrated how he prepares his projects for the veneer press, then demonstrated the use of his vacuum veneer press.
May 17, 2017
The May 17th Guild meeting was held at the workshop of Bill Fagnant. Overall, there was a decent turnout with about 20 guild members in attendance. There were also 3 potential new members, Dan, Craig and Micky who attended. Bill Fagnant provided a demonstration of how to flatten, cut and tape together veneer. His choice for cutting veneer is a tradition veneer saw. He also uses commercial veneer softener for flattening, and prefers cold press glue for most veneering work. While most of Bill’s work is done in solid wood, he uses veneer whenever there are curves involved in his furniture. Bill also demonstrated how to cut veneer from solid slabs. Bill used his rebuilt Yates Bandsaw to perform the demonstration. The Yates bandsaw he demonstrated is nearly a 100 years old, and is a monster of a machine, weighing over 3000 lbs.
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April 19, 2017
The April 19th Guild meeting was held at DIY studio in Hoboken and hosted by Pricilla VanHouten. May 1st will be the one year anniversary of the DIY school. Pricilla left a job in real-estate to pursue woodworking. She “wanted to be a part of the community of people who make things with their hands”. She started taking classes and experimenting in her shop. Then she took a leap of faith and opened her studio. The school welcomes students of all levels. A typical project requires 5-6 two and a half hour classes and costs around $600. She also rents studio time in hourly packages. There is a huge emphasis on safety. The studio is equipped with all the basic machinery and hand tools and european style workbenches. Pricilla is actively seeking people willing to teach classes at the studio. She can be reached at (551) 257-3369.
March 15, 2017
The March Guild meeting was hosted by new member Mark Kenny. Mark has an awesome stand alone work shop that he build on his property. During the business part of our meeting we addressed two issues: 1) Finalizing payment for the next two years of web hosting for the Guild web site with our hosting provider, Blue Host. Matt paid the Hosting fee on-line at the meeting, with the help of our Web developer Bill Hall. 2) Mark Kenny raised the concern that we need to be taking a more active role in trying to engage younger folks in the craft of woodworking. Many/most (but not all) of our members are on the more “mature” side and if we don’t start engaging younger members, we will see woodworking disappear from our communities. We are already seeing alot of the public High Schools close their student woodworking programs. Bart volunteered to start a local Meet Up group for Woodworking with Mark.
The presentation portion of our program was provided by member Joe Corigliano. Joe provided an overview of how he became interested in woodworking from a young age. However, his college education led him to study accounting, and after college, he spent his time working in the corporate world and didn’t have much time to engage in his woodworking passion. After many years as a corporate worrier, Joe decided to start a 2nd career as a furniture maker and applied to, and was accepted as, a student at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. Joe had a rewarding 2 year experience attending the North Bennet Street School and really honed his skills while working there. Currently, Joe is working as a full time woodworker for Dave Pollak and Wally Kunkel at their furniture business in Randolph, N.J., Woodmasters, L.L.C.
February 15, 2017
The February Guild meeting was hosted by Scott Alexander of Natural Fells Inc. in Middlesex. Scott’s shop is well equipped and members enjoyed wandering around checking it out. After the business part of the meeting Scott’s brother Bob explained how they started their business after hurricane Sandy when they saw all the downed trees. They thought it was a waste that it was all going to the dump or being cut up for firewood so they bought a wood miser band saw and an Alaskan chain saw mill and started slicing some of it up. They converted a railroad car into a computer controlled kiln and they were in business. Now when a tree comes down on a clients property they work with that client to design furniture and other wooden objects. They enjoy getting their clients involved in the process. They are also involved in using the wood for timber framing, paneling and flooring. Thanks to Scott and Bob for sharing their shop and demonstrating their mill. Here is the link to their website: Naturesfell.com.
During the business part of the meeting Tyler reviewed the plans for our participation at the upcoming Wood Working show in Somerset. We now have coverage for all open slots for the 3 day event.
Upcoming events:
Philly Furniture Show March 31st
Crafts tool auction April 8 in Oldwick NJ
Brown tool sale and auction March 24-25 Camp Hill Pa.
EAIA annual meeting May 17-20 Sturbridge Mass.
January 15, 2017
Among the upcoming events discussed were:
- The Crafts of Nj antique and user tool auction will be held on April 8th in Oldwick Nj. Anyone interested should go online to Crafts of Nj for auction and membership info.
- The Philadelphia Furniture Show will be held March 31st
- The Brown antique / user tool sale and auction will be held March 24th and 25thin Camp Hill Pa. Just outside of Harrisburg. If you’ve never been you need to check it out.
- The Early American Industry Association will be holding its annual meeting at Sturbridge Village Mass. This is an amazing group and I encourage everyone to check it out at least once.
Tyler is heading up the Guild presence at the Somerset Woodworking Show and needs more volunteers. You can contact him at 646-298-4050. It was decided that some members would do some Woodworking at the table to drum up more interest. You can also bring some small pieces to display. We are also giving away some Guild toolbox kits to kids.
The rest of the meeting was dedicated to the bench a month project that Tyler has been working on. The variety of benches he created was very interesting. Lots of different woods and finishes. Needless to say the craftsmanship was excellent. Everyone enjoyed the presentation and a big thanks goes out to Tyler for hosting the meeting.
Please get ready to step up to volunteer your shop, home or time for an upcoming Guild meeting. Your shop doesn’t need to be big or fancy, (or even a shop). We all need to do our part to keep this Guild interesting and educational.
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Past Meetings Archive